Laura Jarratt

Books

Books

Laura Jarratt is a Carnegie and Waterstone's Children's Book Prize nominated author. She was born in Salford and has lived all over the UK. Although her favourite subject was English, she accidentally studied Science at university. She finally settled in rural Cheshire, where she is owned by a ginger cat with no tail. By day, she works in education because it's never boring and by night, she writes for young adults because they're the most interesting people in the world.

Awards:

SKIN DEEP was shortlisted in the Teen category for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize.

SKIN DEEP was shortlisted in the Young Adult Romantic Novel category for the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards.

BY ANY OTHER NAME was nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal.

BY ANY OTHER NAME was named as a Book of the Year by Lovereading4kids.co.uk.

BY ANY OTHER NAME was longlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize.

Hannah adores her older sister, Jenny – they are the best of friends, but different in every other way. Jenny dreams of leaving the States and flying to the UK to visit the places where their English mother grew up. But Jenny’s dream turns to a nightmare when she vanishes without a trace.

Hannah and her father arrive in England to a big police investigation. As Hannah gets to know some of Jenny’s friends and acquaintances, she realises that families can hide the biggest secrets of all . . .

"It's just as captivating as Jarratt's debut. . . with a climax that literally left me struggling to breathe I was so tense. Despite having read several excellent contemporary novels so far this year, this is the best of them all." ***** thebookbag.co.uk

"The fantastic writing kept me hooked from the very first page." ***** The Guardian children's book blog

"This is, in a couple of words, absolutely stunning. Debut author Jarratt takes a subject which is genuinely original, throws in a huge amount of extra baggage for the characters to deal with - and one especially shocking plot twist - and weaves one of the most compelling young adult romances I've had the pleasure of reading for a long, long time. Of the 60 or so books I've read so far this year, this is one of the very, very best." ***** bookbag.co.uk

"A powerfully moving story... full of twists and turns, is sad and heart-breaking and bursting with sarcastic humour. . . From Jenna and Ryan comes a story like no other I have ever read. I loved it." The Guardian children's books blog

"4.5 stars." goodreads.com on Skin Deep

‘I loved it and I can’t stop raving about it.’ The Guardian on Skin Deep

‘Intensely romantic, really thrilling . . . Of the 60 or so books I've read so far this year, this is one of the very, very best.’ Bookbag

"I'll just go ahead and say it. SKIN DEEP is one of the best YA contemporary novels I have read. It was destined to be in my favorites shelf and I don't even have one. But I will now, and this book will be the first one in it." ***** amaterasureads.blogspot.com

Fiction

Rafi hasn't spoken for eight years. It's up to her to tell her brother's story now that he can't speak either ...

Rafi idolises her seventeen-year-old brother, who is popular, generous and a borderline genius. Ever protective, Silas always includes her when he's with his friends, so Rafi gets to hear all sorts of things that younger sisters wouldn't normally be a part of. Like the time Silas hacks a gaming site to help out his friend Josie, who has been trashed by her ex.

With Josie, Rafi finds herself with a proper friend for the first time in her life. As they grow closer, she realises that she wants to find a way back into the world – she wants to learn to speak again. But Silas has found a new interest too – and it’s taking him away from everything that was once important to him. Can Rafi find the words to save her brother?

"I picked up the book and thumbed through the pages. Names in alphabetical order, names with meanings, names I knew, names I'd never heard of. How to pick? Nothing that would stand out, nothing that would link me to the past - those were the instructions. The past. As if everything that had gone before this moment was buried already."

Holly is fifteen years old, but she's only been "Holly" for a matter of months.

Because of something that happened, she and her family have had to enter witness protection and have all assumed new identities. All, that is, except her sister Katie, who is autistic.

Starting at a new school mid-term is hard enough at the best of times, and Holly has no clue who she is any more. Lonely and angry, she reaches out to friends - new and old. But one wrong move will put all their lives in danger...

“Ugly people don’t have feelings. They’re not like everyone else. They don’t notice if you stare at them in the street and then turn your face away. And if they did notice, it wouldn’t hurt them. They’re not like real people.

Or that’s what I used to think.

When I was younger.

Before I learned.”

One night, one stupid mistake, and nothing will ever be the same again.

When Jenna reluctantly gets into a car with her friends, she has no idea how the events of that night will change her forever. After the car crash that leaves her best friend dead and Jenna so badly burned that she is permanently scarred, she struggles to rebuild her life. Every stare in the street, every mutter as she passes, every time she looks in the mirror, makes her want to retreat further from the world. Until she meets Ryan.

Ryan’s a traveller. When he and his mother moor their narrow boat on the outskirts of a village, she tells him this time it will be different. He doesn’t believe her; he never does and he’s always been right so far. He can’t imagine why this place shouldn’t be just like all the rest. Until he meets Jenna.

But as Jenna and Ryan grow closer, the effects of that January night continue to reverberate through the community. And one day a body is found. . .